My friend is an excellent cook. His son's school is having a picnic/dinner and he's wanting ideas on something to make ahead of time that he can grab after work and take to the school. (It's a small private school. I know most public schools don't let you do homemade anymore.) Anyone have any great ideas?
Thank you all for your responses. The picnic is tonight and turns out he stayed home from work today anyway, so he'll have time to do anything he wants after all. I think he was leaning toward the tortellini salad idea though. :)
Pulled pork done in the slow cooker (he can cook it overnight on low
while he sleeps then put in fridge when he wakes up). Can grab that
after work on way to picnic.
Add, coleslaw & buns for the pulled pork....voila!
-or-
Fried chicken, biscuits, mashed potatoes & gravy he grabs from the home or the store after work on his way to the picnic.
Maybe bbq pulled pork or something, can be put on baked potatoes or hamburger buns.
Tortellini Salad
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?reci...
I love this because you are supposed to make it the night before. It's delicious and it "eats" like a meal, but is a good side dish as well!
Cheese platters with crackers go good at any age. If he is not up to cooking that night he could pick one up from the local grocer.
I don't have a super creative great idea. I'll just tell you what I like. Salad. Fruit salad, macaroni salad or potato salad. Green salad is good if your friend can jazz it up like make a southwest salad or greek salad.
Chili
Stew
Catalina salad
Macaroni salad
Not sure if this picnic already happened yet, but what about stuffed shells? They are pretty easy to make and keep well if made ahead. As long as he can warm them when he get there it would work. Plus, it looks fancy and difficult but really isn't and I know my kids would eat it. I even saw a recipe for pumpkin shells in a magazine the other day and that's perfect for fall!
I think that he can make a dish. It doesn't have to be store bought. At least that has been the case with potlucks held after hours at our schools. He can call the office and ask to be sure.
He needs to make sure they are allowing home made items before this goes any further. If it is a pot luck or something like that then that is different.
If he can make something he can simply google food for a crowd, food for 50, etc...and go through the recipes. He can make whatever it is he decides. I would choose something cold since he doesn't need to heat it up for it to be yummy.
